The Freeze Ray Chronicles
by Lovely Belle
Summary: Dr. Horrible manages to save Penny from death after the incident at the homeless shelter, but it seems Death is not the biggest obstacle. Can Dr. Horrible live with Penny, without giving away his identity? And is Penny actually falling for the Doctor?
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys!

So, this is definitely the work of a plot bunny gone awry. It started on the daily blog (link on profile) as a three day span of stories, before I moved on to the drabbles that are currently making up _'It's the Perfect Story'_, but one day, i got a message from Water Kangaroo asking if I was going to pick it up again. I can't on the blog, because I had to switch topics, but as per their request, I started expanding this into a full length story.

This is going to be my take on the 'Penny is in a coma/bring her back to life' twist everyone seems to be doing. It will (hopefully) be different from everything you've seen here, since you all know I like to twist an bend characters and plots to the edge of their canon.

Hope you enjoy!

-B

* * *

The EMT's gagged when they saw what they were called to. The fact that they were called to a homeless shelter was not all that surprising, but the reason was. Reynolds looked at the call slip again, just to make sure he got the information right.

_Battle between Dr. Horrible and Captain Hammer, laser shots fired, Hammer hurt, one female impaled with shrapnel._

Reynolds didn't even know what to think about what they were going to see. He'd heard about this Dr. Horrible guy, he didn't seem violent, and he'd never hurt anyone before. He knew the other guys on the team were nervous too, they'd never dealt with a super villain before and nobody knew what to expect at the scene.

The ambulance arrived to an eerily quiet building. The siren seemed unusually jarring and the driver flipped it off as soon as he could. The team pulled their equipment out of the ambulance and raced into the building.

It didn't take long for them to get out of there, the damn villain had literally handed them the girl.

It wasn't the worst accident they'd seen, but as they tended to the girl, trying to keep her feeble heartbeat there, Reynolds felt sick. His gloves were bloody, and the compressions felt wrong because of the punctures.

When they arrived at the hospital, Reynolds could see the girl was a lost cause. But he got a doctor and they went into surgery anyways, if there was a shot in hell, they were going to save this girl.

* * *

"_Paging Dr. Hillard."_ The voice that came over the intercom sounded strained.

The doctor ignored it, they knew he was in surgery, he'd just find out what it was later.

"_Dr. Hillard, it is imperative that you come to the frond desk immediately." _The evil voice that had replaced the secretaries sent a chill down Hillard's spine. He rushed out, praying that the nurses and machines could keep the accident victim alive a little longer.

What he saw in the lobby made him freeze in fear. There was a man leaning casually against the receptionist's desk, which wouldn't be much cause for alarm, but he was wearing a lab coat and goggles and had some sort of gun pointed at the security team.

"Doctor. So good of you to make it." Dr. Horrible said casually. "Call off your men, I have a proposition for you." Hillard waved off the security personnel, knowing that if Horrible pulled anything they wouldn't be much use anyways.

"What do you want?" Hillard asked, his voice betraying how frayed his nerves were.

"I'm here to help, doc. See this little thing here." Horrible waved his gun around, causing some of the patrons to flinch away. "Is a suspended animation device I think you'll find useful." Hillard was more then a little suspicious about the Doctors motives.

"Of course, I'll get just payment for my services." Horrible trailed off, his demeanor becoming more agitated by the second.

"But what do you say, doc?" _Laws be dammed._ Hillard thought. This man was giving him the chance to pull off the greatest recovery in history, of course he was going to take it.

"Scrub up, sir. I'm going to need your help."

Hillard was edgy letting a villain into the operating, especially since he was the villain that had caused the disaster in the first place. But the enigmatic Doctor just stood by his machine, pushing buttons occasionally and staring emotionless holes into the scene before him. Hillard hadn't felt judged in a surgery since he had a mentor, but the way Horrible's eyes seemed to bore into everything made him jumpy. He didn't even take a break when most of the nurses during the sixth hour of surgery.

"She's done." Hillard sighed, after twelve hours. He had saved the girl's life. Two nurses started wheeling her out of the room, when Horrible stepped out of the shadows.

"Hillard." He barked, causing Hillard to squeal and drop the tool he'd been carrying. "I haven't told you my price." Hillard visibly relaxed. The Doc couldn't want much, at least, not more then the publicity would bring him.

"Sure Doc, what do you want?" He asked, tiredly, turning to face the villain.

"I'm taking the girl. You're going to tell everyone that you did your best, but you couldn't save her. Can I trust you to do that?" Horrible asked, cutting Hillard's protests off before they could begin. Dr. Horrible gave him another look.

"Actually, just to be safe." Horrible leveled a metal contraption on his wrist, and shot the doctor with out batting an eyelash. He didn't like killing, but what need to happen, happened. He left the doctor in a heap on the floor, and pushed his way through the doors to the hall. It was amazing how easily he was able to steal Penny away by simply leveling the gun at his wrist at anyone that moved.

Dr. Horrible loaded the stretcher into an ambulance and took off.

He settled Penny in the cot he called a bed. Dr. Horrible figured it would be best to go to his apartment, and just keep everyone out. Looking back, maybe this wasn't the best idea. He couldn't keep Penny like a pet, but if the League found out that she was alive, they'd kill them both. The situation began to hit him once he had transferred all the equipment from the stolen ambulance and sent it into the lake. He didn't know what to do.

* * *

Dr. Horrible woke up the next morning disoriented on the, admittedly disgusting, floor of his tiny room. He wasn't surprised though, he rarely made it to the bed most nights, but usually he'd end up in the enormous armchair in the lab, not on the floor. He sat up , rubbing the spot on his head where his goggles had been particularly unforgiving, and started when he saw Penny in his bed. The memories of the night before flooded back, and Dr. Horrible shook his head. How many more people would he have to kill. Horrible decided it didn't matter, and got up to leave the room. Billy wanted to stay at the bedside, and wait until Penny opened her eyes, but Dr. Horrible knew that she would be out for days, and that he had better things to do then wait around for sleeping beauty.

_She is beautiful_ Horrible thought, once he was in the hall, she wore the deathly experience well, and he wouldn't even know she was hurt, except the snowy bandaging around her chest.

Billy finally took control, and while he didn't go back into the bedroom (Horrible knew what he was talking about, even if he was annoying as hell about it.) he did spend a huge part of the day googling information about comas, and people in them.

He was torn from his computer by the shrill ring of the phone, he scrambled up to get it, recognizing Moist's ringtone.

"Hello?"

"Hey doc," Billy winced at the title. He didn't want to be reminded of his alter ego now.

"Moist, what's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come over, get some food. You shouldn't be alone now Doc. It's not good." Moist suggested, sounding wishy-washy, which only grated on Billy's nerves.

"Nah, Moist, I'm good. I've got a lot of work to catch up on. Maybe some other time." The lie fell from his lips easily.

"You sure?"

"Of course I'm sure." Billy snapped. There was no way he could go out and leave a knocked out Penny in his apartment alone. Billy heard a faint beeping come from the bedroom.

"I've got to go, Moist, some other time." Billy hung up the phone, and rushed to the bedroom. Penny wasn't up. Most of him knew she wouldn't be, but part of him had hoped. He quickly took care of the beeping monitor, and left the room, going back to google.

* * *

So, tell me what you think, okay? It's really helpful, and the more people I know really like this, the faster I'll get chapters out. (Okay, so that's blatant bribery...) However, I am breaking my own don't-post-a-story-till-it's-done rule, so maybe you could click that little button? Tell me what you liked, didn't like, what I messed up on, how much you like the show, If you want a funny poster about NPH...

Pretty much anything, actually...

So Review!


	2. Chapter 2

Penny woke, stiff and sore, with a crippling pain in her chest. Her vision blurred from lack of use, she assumed, and her head seemed foggy. Penny looked around the room as soon as she could focus on something without it swimming circles in front of her eyes, and could feel a new, panic induced tightness take hold of her chest. She had no idea where she was.

_ Pull yourself together girl. _Penny chided, this was obviously not a time to start panicking. She could tell that first, this was not a place she had ever been to before. Second, taking into account the dirty laundry and science paraphernalia, it was obvious that no one with a double X chromosome had ever been in here.

Penny pushed the worn quilt off and sat up, looking around. There was a white board with a complicated equation scribbled out in black expo marker, titled **Death Ray**. It gave Penny the creeps. She stood up, unsteadily, and took one step before collapsing back onto the bed, causing the mattress to squeal in protest. How long was she out? And more importantly, what knocked her out that badly? She sat up on the bed, her vision blurring at the change in position, and she realized that she was surrounded by hospital monitors. Most of them were turned off now, but there was a heart monitor that was starting to go crazy. Penny wondered how she hadn't noticed the annoyingly screechy beeps it had been emitting before.

Penny hushed the machine, knowing that whoever was keeping her here would hear it and come investigating.

"You're _talking_ to a _machine_?" Penny turned towards the door, she thought she recognized that voice, but she couldn't remember where from. When her vision focused, Penny had to work to bite back a scream.

It was Dr. Horrible. She'd had nightmares about him, especially after some of the more vivid stories Captain Hammer had told her. Penny found herself literally trembeling with fear as he stepped in the room. She pulled the quilt back up to her neck, as if it would protect her from the madman that was still walking towards her.

"Stay back!" Penny warned, but the threat sounded flimsy and usless, even to her and Dr. Horrible scoffed, continuing his way into the room.

"You're up." He looked her over. "Finally." Penny gasped as he stepped closer. He seemed to pick up on her fear, and he scoffed, again.

"Please. If I wanted to hurt you, would I have gone to such elaborate measures? You were practicaly dead when the 'medics found you, everyone thinks you are anyways, it's in the papers." There wasd a finality to his comment, and Penny had many questions that were going to have to wait for another time.

"Now," He put his hand on the edge of her blanket. "May I?"

"No!" Penny shouted, practically paralized. His eyeless stare bore into her until she relaxed, like a mouse under the hypnotizing gaze of a snake.

"I am a certified doctor, you know." He said, pulling the blanket back. Penny stared at the ceiling as he poked and prodded her ribcage, furiously fighting off a blush, and hissing in pain a few times. She felt the blanket being pulled back up, but she kept her eyes locked on the childish glow-in-the-dark stars that were hanging on by a thread.

_If one fell the right way, could it kill me? _Penny wondered distantly.

"One more thing." Dr. Horrible muttered, and Penny wasn't sure if he was even aware he was talking. Penny felt something like an electric shock run up her arm. She looked down, terrified of what he might be doing to cause such a shock, to see that he was only taking her pulse. She looked up to his face, and was surprised to find the lenses of his goggles looking back at her.

He dropped her wrist like it was on fire, and absentmindedly adjusted his goggles.

"You're progressing nicely." He commented, standing up.

"Does that mean you'll let me go?" Penny asked, praying for the best.

"Chya, not a chance." He was practically laughing at her.

"Can I at least use a phone?" The room suddenly went very cold, and Dr. Horrible turned on Penny menacingly.

"Let me explain something to you Penny." He turned, his tone was forceful, but not mean, and Penny thought it was totally cliche of him to know her name.

"Because my bosses thing you are dead, I'm in a really good spot right now." Penny cowered a little, scared of what he might do. "If word gets out that you are, in fact, still living, I may not only loose my job, but they will kill us both as well." He had pinned her to the cot now, with an arm on either side.

"So let's just keep this a secret, okay?" He asked, smirking. Penny stared into the soulless depths his goggles provided. A shiver ran down her spine. Luckily Penny was able to hold herself together until the door swung shut.

The world thought she was dead? She didn't even know how to begin to think about that. That meant she'd lose her job, her social security number, her bank account. What was he thinking? More importantly, what was going to happen? Did he think he could just keep her locked up like some sort of animal? Where was she going to go?

The future had never scared Penny as much as it did now.

* * *

Dr. Horrible sat at his workbench, staring at the blueprints spread before him, but he couldn't focus on the schematics. The girl of his dreams was alive and on a good road to recovery, and everything seemed to be right now.

She was awake! Dr. Horrible could have lept for joy. He was expecting it. All the medical journals he had taken to reading on google had predicted a two week resting period at the very least, and it had been two weeks to the day. He pulled the goggles off his eyes, and let them sit on his forehead, like he did in his pre-league days.

Soon the excitement was too much for him to keep to himself. He jumped up and raced to the phone, picked it up, and started dialing. His fingers danced over Moist's number out of habit, he needed to tell someone that Penny had woken up. The phone started to ring, and Dr. Horrible had the sense to slam the phone down before Moist picked up. How could he be so careless? He had just finished telling Penny that no one could know she was alive, and now he was putting his best friend and sidekick in more danger then usual. Dr. Horrible resigned himself to planning the future for Penny. He could do that, he reasoned, because he was good at planning and Penny wouldn't leave his head. He smiled at the last thought. It was true, he was sure saving Penny was the best decision he'd ever made.

He sat back down this time in front of the computer that was practically buried in unopened, ignored mail, and turned it on.

"So, it's been a while since I've done one of these, since the League doesn't approve, but..." He wouldn't actually post this entry, but it felt good to be in front of the webcam again.

* * *

**Emilie Rose**- I know, the shooting in the last chapter was a little bit far out. But the Doc wasn't just doing it for Penny, He knows if the ELE finds out, it won't be just Penny that's in danger. So he was actually protecting more then one person. On that note, the ELE probably won't come into play for a while anyways, because angrycaptive!Penny is almost too much for the Doc to handle anyways.

And for your picture, this is one of my favorites, (no spaces, but you knew that)

readcomics. org/ wp-content/ uploads/ 2009/ 07 /DrHorrible. jpg

**Pen E Forthotz**- I'm glad this plot isn't immediately turning people off, just because it seems like everyone and their mother has done it... Anyways, this story is almost more Dr. Horrible/Penny interaction. I'm not sure Billy's even going to be in this...

**RC**- Thanks so much! I'm so glad you like the story, and it makes me especially happy that you've taken the time to _tell_ me.

And to the other 100 readers, (yes, I know how many of you there are :)) Thank you for taking the time to read this so far, I hope it holds your interest.

Please Review!

Belle


	3. Chapter 3

I love all of you that took the time to review, or add this story to one of your lists! Thank you so much!

Sorry it took so long to get this up, I hope it was worth the wait. We're really getting into the relationship now, and I have a feeling it won't be an easy ride for Penny or the Doc, and poor Billy's been crammed into a mental box. How sad, maybe he'll come back soon...

* * *

"Brought you breakfast." Dr. Horrible called, walking into the room Penny considered her own now. It had been a week since she had woken up, and she was able to sit up on her own now.

"Great." She replied tonelessly, because the silence was far too much for her to bear. She was lonely now, and she felt borderline crazy. She had been alone with her thoughts too much, and had managed to create too many horrible scenarios of what could happen to her if she couldn't get out. She couldn't talk to the Doctor, even though sometimes she was so lonely she had to bite her tongue to keep from calling out for him.

"Sleep well?" He asked. It didn't help that he had been one of the nicest guys she'd ever met, instantly dispelling any torture theory she had come up with in the time he was gone.

"Why do you care?" She snapped. She was tired of the cat and mouse game he was playing. Yes, he hadn't even poked her in a way that wasn't medically related, but he kept reminding her how trapped she actually was, and she was tired of feeling on the edge.

"You're just going to end up killing me off anyways, why even bother making sure I'm healthy?"

"Penny I-" But she didn't let him continue.

"Are you going to experiment on me? Is that it? I'm your medical dummy? What have you even been pouring into me? It can't be FDA approved." Dr. Horrible had to give her that. It was a serum he'd invented, it healed faster then normal medications. He didn't see the bowl of oatmeal coming at him until it was too late.

"You're right, Penny. The formula in your IV is a quick healing serum. I don't know what I'm going to do with you, but I do know that once you are healed enough, I can do something with you, and then I'll get my bed back. Forgive me for wanting that." He turned and walked out of the room, leaving Penny dumbstruck.

She had taken his room? She almost felt guilty for that. The guys apartment/lair must not be that big, if that was actually the case. The pipes in the walls creaked as, she assumed, the doctor was taking a shower to get the oatmeal out of his hair.

Penny still couldn't believe she did that. She'd never had the guts to stand up to anyone before, let alone someone who could kill her. Her hands started to shake as latent adrenaline coursed through her. She had just fought with one of the worlds most feared villains, if the papers were correct.

* * *

Of course a bowl of oatmeal to the head didn't keep Dr. Horrible away for long.

"Good morning Penny!" Dr. Horrible waltzed into the bedroom, like he did every morning since Penny's tantrum.

Penny rolled away to face the wall, like she did every morning since her tantrum. It was a vicious cycle, and a dangerous one. Penny knew, if he felt like it, he could take her out, and no one would notice. But she couldn't help it, she still would not look him in the eye.

"Don't be like that Penny, there are plenty of girls who would love to be served breakfast in bed by a handsome doctor." Damn, those goggles made him cocky.

Penny scoffed, unfortunately, loud enough for Dr. Horrible to hear.

"Fine then." He said, and Penny felt the slight pressure of the tray being set on her mattress. He shouldn't have been surprised at her rejection, she reasoned, it happened every morning. Penny heard the telltale creak of the door, and sat up when she knew he was gone.

They went through literally the same routine every morning, so Penny didn't understand why she felt the tiniest twinge of guilt for the way she acted this time. He had been nothing but nice, and over-confident, Penny reasoned. It was the same way her boyfriend acted.

Penny bolted upright when she remembered Captain Hammer. Of course, he was her key out. If only she could find a way to contact him. Penny wondered if he was worried about her. Or if he was sad that she was dead. Penny almost doubted it. As much as he enjoyed taking her out, Penny had a feeling that he had already moved on.

But he did have the means of getting her out of here, and that was what mattered the most.

Penny gingerly stepped out of bed, surprised at how difficult it was to walk now, and made her way to the door. If she was lucky, she could make it to a phone and call Jason Hammer before she was caught. If she wasn't lucky... Penny didn't want to think about what would happen if she got caught.

She cautiously made her way over to the door, knowing that the floor creaked. She eased the door open, hoping that by moving it slowly, the squeak of the hinges would be dulled. She was wrong, and Penny stood in the doorway, frozen, waiting for the angry Dr. Horrible to come charging down the hall and, at the very least, strap her to the bed.

But nothing happened.

Penny tip-toed her way down the hall, taking in the framed diplomas on the dull blue-grey walls. He really was a doctor. Penny noticed. He was also a Ph.D in chemistry and mechanics. Penny broke her gaze away from the certificates that lined the walls when she reached the end of the hall way. There was no phone in the main room, and, although it was close, Penny didn't dare touch the front door. She was about to turn back when another room caught her eye. It had a wheel on it, reminding Penny of a bank safe, and it was partially open. She walked towards it, pushing her luck an little farther, and looked inside.

The room was dark, but Penny could tell it was full of chemicals, and other sciency stuff she didn't recognize. She stepped in, and froze in the door way.

He slept in an armchair? Penny rubbed her eyes. It was the doctor, curled up and sleeping in the biggest chair Penny had ever seen. He looked different, smaller and more vulnerable then she thought he could look. She took a step back out of the room, wanting nothing more then to let him sleep.

A board creaked under Penny's foot, and she stopped, like a deer in the headlights, her eyes locked onto the doctor, who was beginning to stir. Penny backed out of the room quickly, knowing no good could come from her being caught in what was obviously Dr. Horrible's lair. She turned to walk down the hall, back to her room, but she wasn't quick enough. She felt a heavy hand on her shoulder pull her around to face a very angry Doctor.

"What do you think you're doing?" He growled, setting Penny's skin on fire with nerves.

"Nothing I-" He raised his hand, and Penny flinched, trying to duck away, but the vice grip on her shoulder wouldn't let her move.

"I'm talking now." Dr. Horrible continued, and Penny nodded her head meekly, scared to do anything more.

"What made you think it was a good idea to leave that room?" He asked, stepping past Penny, and pulling down the shades in the main room.

"Do you even know how easily you could destroy everything I've worked for? Don't you understand you can get us both killed?" Penny found herself staring into the goggles again.

"Of course you don't." Dr. Horrible sighed, shaking his head.

"Wether you like it or not, you can't do anything without asking." He continued, perfectly calm. He began herding Penny towards the bedroom door, pulling down the window coverings as he went.

"I don't want to lock you up, Penny, but I will if I have to." He threatened, causing Penny to race back to the bed that offered some measure of safety. Dr. Horrible didn't follow her in, instead he simply swung the door shut, and Penny heard a lock slide shut.

"I'll unlock it in a bit." Penny heard him announce from the other side of the door, before mumbling something about sleep. She supposed that she could live with that, since the worst she had come out with was a sore shoulder. She sat down on the bed, and prepared to wait it out.

* * *

Hey, answer a question for me?

What would you guys do if you were in this situation (besides a. seduce the doc, or b. curl up and give up.)? Let me know!

Review!

-B


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys! Look at how fast this chapter's going up! Thank you so much for all your positive reviews. I don't think there's been one negative comment on this story yet (maybe it'll stay that way?) And I want to thank everyone so much for the constructive criticism!

I want to say a special thank you to those of you who took the time to review. Some of you put a lot of thought into your answers, and I had a great deal of fun reading them.

There was one comment saying that the tantrums were too cowardly, which really made me think about how this story was going. And I can totally see you point. Yes, Penny's tantrums are very childish and cowardly, but I can see her acting in two ways; The way she is now, or completely submissive, and basically accepting her fate, and curling up in a corner.

I don't know about you, but I think the second one would be a pretty boring story...

Anyways, that was just my explanation.

This chapter has a bit of a turning point for Penny and The Doc's relationship, so Enjoy!

* * *

Blondiebelle. livejoirnal. com 31 Days of Alice

* * *

Hours later, the lock clicked open. Penny started at the sound, and fervently prayed the Doctor wouldn't come in. Of course, if the universe had any intention of listening to her, it wouldn't let her be in this position in the first place, let alone make her beg it to keep him out.

"What do you want." Penny grumbled, not having the patience to deal with the Doctor anymore.

"I just wanted to know if you were hungry." He asked, all traces of anger from earlier gone. This irked Penny, it was no fun to fight someone that was not willing to fight back.

"Sure." She answered sullenly.

"Do you want anything particular?" He asked, seriously annoying Penny with how nice he was being.

"To get back to my life?" She replied sarcastically, but it did the trick. The Doc fumbled backwards through the doorway, tripping over the slight step, before shutting the door so Penny was left alone in her misery.

Until he came back with a pizza, fifteen minutes later.

"I don't like this arrangement anymore then you do Penny." He said, setting the cardboard box down on the bed, and sitting next to it.

"But it doesn't have to be bad." Penny turned on him.

"No, it does. You don't know anything about me. There was no way I was going to just wake up and be okay with living a life in captivity, when my future is in the hands of one of the most evil men on earth."

"I got a vegetarian pizza, because I know you don't eat meat." The doctor offered, purposefully shaming Penny into realizing she was wrong.

"You shouldn't assume things, Penny. It's you that doesn't know anything about me." Doctor Horrible continued, fully aware of Penny's embarrassment.

"Of course, if you could get off your self-pitying high horse, we may even be able to be friends." He knew they could be. He was still Billy on the inside, even if Penny could never know that.

They ate in silence, Dr. Horrible making faces at the pizza, and vowing never to order an entirely veggie pie again.

"What did the pizza do to you?" Penny asked, giggling at the faces she'd been watching her captor make for the better part of nine minutes.

"This is gross. I can't believe they make stuff like this." Dr. Horrible put down his piece of pizza and grimaced. Penny laughed again.

"See, we can do this." Dr. Horrible encouraged Penny, smiling. "It won't be that hard." But Penny wasn't really ready to give up yet.

"I'm not so sure." She finally voiced her insecurities. Dr. Horrible gave her a long cold look, making Penny cringe under it's intensity. He stood, sharply and stalked angrily out of the room without another word.

Penny wasn't really scared anymore, she figured that he would have killed her already, if he had a mind too.

Now she just wondered why he got to have mood swings, when she couldn't. It wasn't like she had any unreasonable demands, and she didn't believe for a second that his life was in danger because of her. Nothing in her situation added up, Penny thought sleepily.

* * *

That night, she dreamed of Billy.

Penny opened the door to the laundromat, and paused, it was uncharacteristically quiet. She looked around nervously, and tried to step back out of the building, she was getting a really uneasy feel from the tomblike building. But every time she took a step back, she moved one step foreword instead, towards her usual washing machine. Penny looked around. All the Wednesday regulars were there, at their usual machines, seemingly going about their own personal business, but when Penny looked closer, they were all frozen in place. Penny panicked, terrified of what caused this phenomenon, and the fear she felt seemed to hang around her like a black mist.

"Penny?" She sighed in relief. Billy was calling her, and she already felt a little bit safer. She turned towards his voice, and found herself the only target of a futuristic looking gun.

"Penny, Penny!" He was calling, mockingly. Penny turned back, only to find that the laundromat had become the homeless shelter, and she was staring into the horrifying blank gaze of an immobile Captain Hammer. She turned back, and Billy, who had donned a white lab coat and familiar goggles, pulled the trigger on the gun, it's ray hitting her square in the chest.

* * *

"Penny, Penny, wake up. It's not real!" Penny opened her eyes, for the first time glad to be in Dr. Horrible's bedroom.

Dr. Horrible himself took his hands off her shoulders, satisfied that she was up.

"Care to tell me why you were screaming like Lieka at three in the morning?" He asked, helping Penny sit up.

"It was just a dream?" Penny asked, still shaking from the fear. Dr. Horrible raised an eyebrow, making Penny feel silly for asking. She was about to tell him to get out, that she was a big girl, and she didn't need anyone to save her from the bogey man, but when she opened her mouth to speak, she started sobbing instead.

Dr. Horrible timidly drew her head to his shoulder, and she latched on to him, making him jump in surprise.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asked awkwardly, not used to dealing with crying women. She shook her head against his t-shirt, which was now thoroughly wet. Dr. Horrible had no idea what to do, so he just held Penny in silence, until her crying stopped. He gently disentangled himself, and stood up. Penny was half asleep again anyways, so he figured he'd just sneak out.

"Stay?" He heard her ask, and he turned back to look at her, to judge if she seriously wanted him to, or if she was just sleep talking.

She looked fully alert, and fully embarrassed.

"Really?" Dr. Horrible wondered if he actually sounded like the squeaky twelve year old he heard in his head. Penny nodded, her face nearly as red as her hair.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, but..." She trailed off, biting her fingernail to hide her nerves. Dr. Horrible knew this would end badly, anything that involved him and Penny in less then lucid states would end badly, so he opted to sit in the chair next to the bed instead. He was more then a little bit surprised when Penny looked disappointed at his choice. Penny fell asleep quickly, unexpectedly holding his hand for comfort, and for the first time since she'd woken up, Dr. Horrible thought he could make this work.

* * *

Tell me what you think! I'd love to see that dream in a video or something *hint*

No, actually, if anyone's _wants _to do fan art, I'll write you a story. Pinky promise.

Okay, that's kind of awkward.

So tell me, have you ever been totally surprised by what someone knew about you? Let me know in a review!


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks for all the feed back you guys! I'm so glad you like this, and we're just getting into the real dramatic stuff! I absolutely love hearing you're opinions. Ninja-lemondrop15 and I had a great little chat over one of the points in this story, and it made _me _discover something new about the characters, and she got a little sneak peek at this chapter. Just saying... That could happen to you too...

And,** Agent Malkere** the deal is totally open ended. You show me what this story is telling you, and I'll write a one shot for you, with the plot of your choice. Surprises all around! (that goes for anyone else interested in the fan art deal too.)

And finally, If any of you are interested in Alice in Wonderland, or horror, I tried my hand at a 'scary' story. You can find it on my profile, and any criticism is appreciated.

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_blondiebelle. livejournal. com (31 days of Alice)_

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Dr. Horrible woke the next day, with a navy blue washcloth over his eyes, or more specifically, draped over the lenses of his goggles, effectively blocking any sort of light. It was really nice, he was happy that the sun had not invaded his consciousness with the mental jack hammer it called it's rays. Then he realized that someone had purposefully blinded him. He tore the wash cloth off, panicked. He knew falling asleep with Penny was a bad idea. Now she was probably gone, and- he didn't even want to think about what that meant. He raced out of the room.

"In here." He almost cried with relief when he found Penny in the kitchen.

"Good Morning." He greeted, with a nervous half smile, tearing his eyes away from the redhead at the stove to notice that she'd cleaned his entire kitchen.

"More like afternoon. It's three o'clock." Penny said, focused on whatever she was making.

"You looked tired, I figured you needed all the sleep you could get. It's the least I could do for waking you up last night."

"Yeah, what was that all about anyways?" Dr. Horrible asked, sitting at the kitchen table.

"It was nothing." But he could tell Penny was lying. "I made pasta." She continued before he could ask her to elaborate, laying down two place settings and filling both of them with the meal she'd prepared.

"Um, did you sleep well?" Penny asked. She wasn't good at starting conversation. Luckily she'd never needed to, Captain Hammer was always more then happy to talk about himself, but the Doc didn't seem that way.

"Yeah, the washcloth thing was uh, clever." He answered, and Penny wondered why the small compliment put butterflies in her stomach. She mumbled a thank you, and they ate in silence.

"Well," Penny began when she was finished. "Um, I'll take care of the dishes, and I'm sure you have work to do, so uh, you can go do that." She suggested, gathering both the place settings up off the table, and setting them in the sink with a sharp 'clank' that made her wince.

"Nope." Dr. Horrible said, with a kind of levity to his voice. Penny couldn't help but feel that if they were in an old fashioned movie, he would be lighting up a cigar, or something. But he didn't smoke. She could tell by the lack of ashtrays in his apartment.

"No more work. The project I'm working on now is so close to being done I can take a night off." There was no project. He had so many new things to show the ELE now, they'd have to dedicate a week to seeing them all, but Penny didn't need to know that.

"So, Penny." Damnit, why couldn't he let this go already? Penny could still remember exactly what happened in her dream, and a new wave of fear hit her every time he brought it up.

"You shot me, okay?" Penny said, scrubbing the plate with a little more force then necessary. "But it wasn't really you." She said tersely. She heard his boots hit the floor, and the chair squeak against the cheap linoleum. Suddenly, she was yanked from the sink to face Dr. Horrible.

"Penny, you can tell me anything. Especially something that's upsetting you so much, like this." Penny hated the way he was messing with her head, making her want to tell him these things, making her feel like he actually cared. It wasn't fair.

"It was my friend, from the laundromat." Penny gave up and spilled the information she thought he wanted.

"He turned into you, and Captain Hammer was frozen and-" Penny started crying again, and Dr. Horrible was glad that she was too wrapped up in herself to notice his horrified expression. He didn't need the psych Ph.D to know what her dream meant. The Doc had considered letting her know his alter ego, but only in daydreams, where he could control her reactions, and she'd still love him. Now, in real life, he knew it wasn't an option. At least, not yet. Not until Penny trusted him enough. The panic that had seized his heart lessened a bit as he looked down at the distraught redhead that was crying into the dishwater. She wasn't scared of him, she was scared of the dream, he realized, but he couldn't make himself reach out to her.

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He slipped out of the room and into his lab, pulling the door firmly shut behind him and ready to pound his head on the lab table for a good long while. How could he have not considered this? Of course she would remember what happened, she was not an imbecile. That was the reason he was attracted to her in the first place after all.

'_It was only a dream…' A little voice reminded him._ But a dream was simply half way to consciousness, and that would come sooner, rather then later. Ideas began flooding his brain. Time machine? No, too complicated, and messing with the space/time continuum was never a good idea. Memory altering ray? No, it would be impossible to target the one memory, and missing would change her personality forever. Of course, along that line, he could possibly just whack her over the head with something... The Doc couldn't believe himself for thinking that. He was the guy who had nightmares for the first week after the ELE had ordered him to kill someone, and he was suggesting violence as the answer to a problem? He sat down in the massive armchair, taking off his gloves, and tracing the pattern in the material. It was because he hadn't switched, he concluded. He never used to think these sorts of things when he was able to be Billy. But now...

Well, what was stopping him? He got up and made sure the door was locked before pulling off the goggles and lab coat, trading the latter for the t-shirt and jeans he had stashed in the lab in case of a chemical emergency. Luckily, he was a good scientist, though he did meet the 'mad' qualifications rather often, so the clothes were clean.

It took longer then usual, but the sanity was slowly spreading though the body of the Doc, until he actually was Billy again. He stretched, glad to be out of the mental box, and looked around.

The lab was a lot cleaner then he had left it. Which was surprising, since the Doc usually left everything out and about. Billy also noticed that many more projects were finished. The transmatter ray was done, he noted, along with the blueprints and the frame for a teleportation device, and the shield ray, which, he figured would work like a bubble gun. There was a knock on the door, breaking him out of his revere, and making his scream like a girl in surprise. He didn't remember inviting anyone over , he never had anyone over. Well, except Moist, and Moist never knocked to get into the lab.

"Doc?" Billy shook his head a couple times. He could have sworn he heard Penny. But that couldn't be right, he thought with a heavy heart, he killed Penny to get into the ELE.

_Curiosity killed the cat... _He reminded himself, intentionally squashing his hope.

"Penny? He asked through the door, double checking his theory. He staggered a couple paces back when she said yes.

"I just wanted to make sure you were alright, I know I really shouldn't care, on account of the fact that you imprisoned me and all, but you did leave rather abruptly, and you had already said that you didn't have any work-" He lost focus on Penny's babbling, unable to make heads or tails of it, and utterly confused as to why she was here, in his apartment, when he couldn't even manage to ask her to get frozen yogurt with him, and he focused on the intense joyous feeling that was building inside him. Penny was alive. The only thing separating them was the metal door, and his own will, that seemed to know that going out there was not only a bad idea, but potentially a very dangerous one.

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The next chapter is my favorite so far. So, the faster you review, the faster it will go up

~B


	6. Chapter 6

Okay guys, this just so happens to be my favorite chapter so far... I hope you like it as much as I did. :)

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"Dr. Horrible?" Fake Thomas Jefferson called into the darkened board room of the ELE Headquarters. The silence didn't surprise anyone.

"Dr. Horrible?" Fake Thomas Jefferson hated calling role, it was his only assignment at these board meetings (the secretary had to do something, right?) and he was grateful for the position, but he often found himself wondering why they didn't just turn the lights on, so he could see. The meetings would get done quicker, and he wouldn't have to call out names to people who obviously weren't there.

"Third call, Dr. Horrible?"

"He'ssss not here." Snakebite hissed, just as annoyed at the roll as everyone else. Bad Horse whinnied disapprovingly

"I agree." Dead Bowie replied. "Why did we even promote the man, if he's never here? Wonder if he'll ever know..." The rest of the league tuned out Bowie as they were won't to do when he began singing.

"Men." Fury Lieka scoffed. "Ever since he gunned that girl down-"

"...The girl with the mousey hair..." Lieka shot Bowie a look that froze him mid lyric. Thankfully, he stopped singing. "As I was saying," She continued, glancing uneasily out of the corner of her eye at their musical friend. "Ever since he gunned that girl down, he's been practically invisible. Has anyone heard from him?" The members of the ELE shook their heads, before remembering that no one could see them in the nearly pitch room.

"No one?" She asked, the words rolling off her tongue in a nearly monotone way. The matter was serious, they all knew that. A member of the Evil League of Evil that had disappeared for nearly three months, (missing, Jefferson counted, at least fifteen meetings, if not more.) But none of the league could make themselves care.

"I am bored from the event, I really don't understand the situation, and it's no game." Seven pairs of eyes focused on Dead Bowie, with looks that ranged from murderous to slightly amused, and totally blank, thanks to alb-mascat, who frankly, didn't possess any other expression.

"Didn't mean to hurt you but i always do, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Bowie continued, switching melodies.

"Why is he even here?" Tie-dye whispered to Professor Normal, who was unable to respond vocally, due to the fact that the mechanisms in his jaw structure were being worked on, so he simply shrugged.

"Bad Horse is right. We need to get back on topic." Jefferson announced, getting the attention of the rest of the board. (Or so he assumed, he couldn't actually see anyone, but the talking had died down.)

"Dr. Horrible has failed to attend any of the meetings since his induction. As this has never happened before, we, as members of the Evil League of Evil must decide on what course of action to take." The members seemed to think about this for a moment.

"Oh, what you gonna say? Oh, what you gonna do? Ah, what you gonna be?" Dead Bowie's voice carried out into the hall. Tie-Die and Professor Normal lunged for the rock star, and Snake bite and alb-mascat quickly followed suite. The once calm board meeting quickly turned into a brawl that would make any common bar-fight look like child's play. Fake Thomas Jefferson and Bad Horse were frantically trying to break up the dueling super villains, so no one noticed Fury Lieka's exit.

"Gentleman, ladies, please, we're the most feared-" She could hear Jefferson's pleas through the oak door, and Lieka rolled her eyes. They were pathetic, all of them. She could come up with a plan to find Horrible, and get him into headquarters, but Jefferson ever the chauvinist, wouldn't give her the time of day.

It didn't matter though, once she brought in Horrible, Bad horse would promote her to a rank above Jefferson. Lieka smiled at the thought, and wandered into her office.

The offices were silly, only used for show, and completely random, when compared to one another. Her 'wedding planner' office was between Tie-Die's 'design lab' and Jefferson's 'law firm' and it was right across form Alb-Mascat's 'masque design.' Lieka never understood her mysterious, masked, comrade.

Fury Lieka picked up her phone, then hesitantly set it down again. Who should she call about Horrible? His only connection was in therapy, it's not like he got big enough to have henchmen yet, or anything. Lieka glanced over the headlines that graced the newspapers spread across her desk, when something caught her eye.

There, in the corner of that photo of Dr. H, _was_ a henchman. She thought quickly, what was his name?

Oh yes, Moist. Her fingers nimbly typed his name into the database, and then dialed the phone number.

"Hello?" Oh boy, this guy sounded pathetic.

"Hello, Moist? This is Fury Lieka with the ELE, I'm calling about your friend Dr. Horrible?"

"What happened to the Doc?" This Moist character sounded worried. Lieka was surprised, she had been sure that Dr. Horrible would keep in touch with someone. The guy had friends, didn't he?

"That's what I was planning on asking you, Moist. Seems like your friend hasn't been in in quite some time. Could you tell us anything? Did he say anything about leaving the League?" Lieka asked, going through standard questions. It was a little known fact that most villains worked a day job as telemarketers, and Fury was no exception, her phone skills were impeccable.

"Not that I can think of.... He framed his letter of acceptance and hung it in his lab, and he wouldn't stop talking about the first meeting..." Moist was taking too many pauses, Lieka noticed, he must really not know anything, because Lieka could tell he was a terrible liar.

"But that was months ago, I haven't heard from him since." That was expected. Lieka thanked him for his time and hung up the phone. Dr. Horrible really didn't want to be found.

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The first person to guess where all Dead Bowie's lines come from, (hint: there are four titles), gets a sneak peek at the next chapter!

Review!


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys! Two chapters in one week!

I was a little surprised at the reactions to the last chapter, but I guess I shouldn't have given it to you while Penny and the Doc were in such an intense place. Oops.

Congrats to Pen E Forthotz for being the first to guess all four David Bowie songs.

In case you couldn't tell with the change of subject in the last chapter, we're hitting a turning point in this story. Hopefully it will be more intense from now on...

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Moist felt the phone slip from his hand, and it hit the ground before he'd even registered that he'd dropped it.

The League was looking for The Doc. This was bad. This was really, really bad. Moist had assumed that the Doc's busy schedule with the League was what kept him form calling, and just socializing in general, and while it was not unusual for the Doc to hole up in his lab for days at a time, it was now bordering four months since the las time he'd seen the Doc, and if the League hadn't seen him. Moist feared the worst.

'Doc's not completely insane. He'd call before he did anything too rash.' Moist tried to rationalize, but the gnawing feeling in his stomach would not go away. Something was not right. And Moist would be damned if he left his friend alone when he was in trouble.

Moist pulled on a pair of rubber gloves, (an ingenious trick his girlfriend had come up with,) and started his car. The rusted green honda tore down the streets of Echo Park, braving the flying debris of what had become a very windy day, and breaking at least four traffic laws before entering the parking structure of the Doc's building.

He jumped out of the car, sneakers squelching on the cement but thankfully not sliding out from under him, like they usually did. He raced up the stairs, leaving dark, sopping footprints in the carpet on every other step. Moist never was in line to be a stealth master.

Three flights later, he reached the Doc's apartment and opened the door, letting himself in.

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_Earlier..._

"I can't believe you're doing this for me." Penny said, as she stepped out of the way of a speeding couch. She cracked a smile in the Doc's general direction, before flushing and looking away. She still wasn't used to this new friendship, and they were both on tenterhooks around each other.

It had only been a few days since the nightmare, but the combined efforts of the kindness the Doc had been exhibiting, and Penny's inability to sleep (due to both latent jitters from the nightmare, and guild that she was still taking the Doc's bed) had helped convince both of them that moving a second bed into the already too cramped bedroom was a good idea.

So Penny sat, and watched the Doc manhandle his bedroom furniture to make room for the other bed. She had tried to help, but the Doc would so sharply rebuke her, that she eventually just sat on her bed and watched.

"Really, I could have just slept on the couch." Penny continued, watching the Doc move his belongings around effortlessly with his freeze ray.

"Penny, you're not sleeping on the couch, and that's the end of it. Besides, it's not for you, I'm not having such a great time on the armchair." The Doc replied, smiling back at her.

"But I-"

"Penny, it's already here. I'm not pulling it back through the door _again._" Penny giggled at the comically pained look that graced the doctors face. Watching him try to get the bed frame and mattress into the apartment had been one of the most entertaining things Penny had ever seen. He insisted on measuring everything, then calculating to geometry, physics, and trajectory, for some reason. He did the math a total of four different times, while the bed stood in the hall, and eight more times, when the bed was stuck in his door way, before he got fed up, and broke out the freeze ray. Penny instinctively shyed away from the gun, knowing that it was the cause of something horrible (no pun intended), but she couldn't remember what it was.

The already cramped room was really tight now, with only a foot of space between the two beds, and only enough room for the few monitors Penny needed at the foot of her bed. Penny couldn't help laughing at the faces she imagined the Doc was making under his mask, before she settled down again, content to watch him work.

"Hey, Doc?" The pair in the bedroom froze, and the heavy end table clattered to the floor. "Doc?" Both Penny, and the voice The Doc had come to recognize as Moist, asked at the same time. The Doc looked over at Penny, who bore a striking resemblance to a deer in the headlights, terrified of what could be happening.

Thinking fast, the Doc grabbed a sweatshirt he hoped was clean off the floor and tossed it to Penny. It hit her on the shoulder, jarring her out of her frozen state.

"Put that on," He hissed. She did so, quickly pulling the strangely familiar smelling hoodie over her head. "Go out to the balcony. Stay away from the windows, and don't talk to anyone." The Doc commanded as he pulled the hood as far over Penny's head as it would go, and he pushed her towards the glass door.

"Moist!" Billy greeted cheerily, the goggles sitting atop his head like usual. He smirked as Moist gave him a nervous once-over. "What are you doing here?" He asked, a slight mixture of utter annoyance, tension, and a pinch of joy at seeing his friend coloring his tone.

"You know, just stopping by to see how you were. The outside world misses you, Doc. Hey, your place looks great!" Moist sugarcoated the truth. But the Doc could see through his nervous glancings around, and soon Moist's defenses melted under the Doc's questioning gaze.

"I got a call from Fury Lieka, okay?" He said, moving towards the wooden chair that had always sat in the Doc's living room, specifically for him, so he wouldn't soak the other furniture. "The League is asking about you. They want to know where you are, and why you haven't been to any meetings since they let you in."

"I've been to meetings." The Doc scoffed, trying to hide the panic that shot through him. Had he actually gone to any meetings? There was that one party. Suddenly it occurred to him how reclusive he'd actually been.

"Are they coming after me?" The Doc asked, fear underlining his question, as he sat on the couch, processing the very real threat that posed an end to all of them.

Penny sat on the balcony for what felt like hours. The three-by-four slab of concrete with a lawn chair was a sad excuse for a balcony, and Penny was miserable. The sun beat down on her, quickly heating the navy blue sweatshirt she was too scared to take off, and the wind would alternate between trying to rip the hood from her head, and blowing her own hair into her face and eyes. It had succeeded with the hood more then a few times, and Penny swore that she would never step outside without a hair tie, ever again.

That is, if she was ever allowed out, ever again. It was not lost on Penny that this was the first time she'd been out in the sun in months, and despite not being an outdoorsy girl in the first place, she was really enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin -er- what was actually available for it to hit. She spent a few more minutes contemplating the feel of the rays on her fingertips, and spitting out hair, until the door slid open. Penny stood up, the wind winning again, tearing the hood off her head and unleashing her fiery hair on the world, and turned to find the Doc stalking towards her with a desperate, fearful, air about him, and a dangerous look on his face.

Before Penny could react, he'd grabbed her and pulled her closer, until she could feel the buttons of his lab coat digging in through her sweater. Then, he was kissing her, and Penny couldn't think. She didn't care that his goggles were digging into her forehead, or that the rubber gloves he was wearing would be hopelessly difficult to get out of her hair. For a moment, she didn't even care that the man she was kissing was the same man that was holding her captive. All she knew was that her knees had turned to jelly, and that something had to be very wrong to make him do this.

They moved inside, and Penny wasn't sure how the door shut, but the click of it sliding home was enough to bring her back to her senses. She shoved the Doc away, roughly.

"Penny-" He tried to begin, sounding just as confused as she felt.

"No! No, you have no reason to- what were you even-" Penny didn't even know what she wanted to say.

"You don't understand-" The doc tried again, still sorting out everything in his head.

"No, you don't understand! You kidnap me, you lock me up with no access to the outside world, and finally, when I think maybe this isn't so bad. Maybe this could work, you pull that?" She cried, backing towards the front door. She could feel the knob hit her hip, and she was surprised it wasn't rigged to shock her or something.

"Penny, if you walk out that door, we'll both die." The Doc begged as she turned the knob, her eyes were steeled with resolve.

"Maybe I think you're lying." She said, pushing the door open and stepping into the hall. Doctor Horrible pulled his stun gun off the counter and ran after her. She hadn't made it very far, to the next apartment, maybe, when he caught up to her.

"We are going back inside, and weather you're awake or not is up to you. You can scream and cry in there all you want." He said, holding her in a position not unlike the one they had been in only a few seconds earlier. But this time, he was holding a gun, and Penny knew he wouldn't let her push him away. She continued to struggle, giving up never crossing her mind. Until she felt a sharp prick, and everything blurred, until she couldn't struggle anymore.

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So, send in all thoughts, comments, opinions, criticisms, I want to hear what you guys think!

-B


	8. Chapter 8

Wow you guys! Thanks so much for all your feed back on the last chapter! I'm so glad you guys liked it, because I was really nervous about putting it up. :/ But to get all your positive reviews- that was just amazing. In this past month, this story has had 1,007 hits, and 399 readers, and the readers come from twelve different countries. TWELVE!

Thank you guys so much, you are the reason this story is still fun to write, and hasn't become a chore...

Now on to Chapter 8!

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Jason Hammer was out and about by himself for the first time in months. He was a shadow of the man he had been, therapy and antidepressants had taken a toll on what was once a crowd stopping profile. And isolation had given way to agoraphobia. It was only a month before Jason had locked himself up in his house, and in his mind, with memories of the girl he felt responsible for killing.

"Jason, you need to get out of the house. If you want to beat this, you need to fight the way Captain Hammer would fight." Dr. Patricia Conners, his therapist, had commanded at their last session. She worried about the former hero, even outside of work. She'd counseled men who had lost partners of thirty or more years, and no one had been so impervious to her help before.

_Fight the way Captain Hammer would fight... _Jason wanted to scream. These people didn't know anything about him. He'd never had to fight against something that he couldn't throw a car at and be done with it.

_ I could be hit by a car..._ The idea flitted through his head, as he crossed the street, transitioning from the very nice neighborhood he and the other supers lived in, to the shadier neighborhood inhabited by the villains. Apartment complexes towered above him, painted dull, nondescript colors. They seemed to continue down for miles. Jason squinted down the street, trying to keep the dust the wind was kicking up off the street, from landing in his eyes, not really seeing anything that was going on.

It didn't matter if he actually saw anything, Dr. Conners would just be happy he was out. Jason felt something hit his head, and he looked up in a panic. He never should have come out here, he should have known someone was out to get him. He focused on what was above him, prepared to see a super villain with a gun and an undeserved vendetta against him.

What he didn't expect to see, was a near upskirt of his dead girlfriend.

He stepped away from the building quickly. _I must be hallucinating_, he figured, that was the only reason she was standing there, in the same dress she died in.

She did used to live right around the corner, maybe that had something to do with it. Or, maybe it wasn't really her. As soon as the thought crossed his mind, a particularly strong gust of wind blew telltale red strands out from under the woman's hood.

Even though his mind screamed for him to call out to her, signal her, to do anything to get her attention, he turned and walked away. If she was still there when he made it around the block, maybe he would do something. But he couldn't bring himself to say anything now.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, she was still there, standing still as a statue at the second floor railing. Jason took a minute to look at her, the only woman who had been able to leave him worse off then he left her. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew standing there was only hurting him, but he couldn't help it.

What could he say to her? It was such a surreal scenario, talking to someone after they were dead. Nothing in life could prepare anyone for that.

He finally settled on just saying hi, and waving, letting the bizarre scenario take care of its self. It would be easy, Jason tried to convince himself, she was so into him before...

It still took a couple tries to muster up the courage to do it. He was either too quiet, or what came out of his mouth didn't sound like anything recognizable. One more try, that's all it would take. But Penny was stepping away from the rail. Jason backed up so he could see what was happening.

It was Dr. Horrible. Dr. Horrible was keeping his dead girlfriend hostage.

"He was kissing her, Doc." Jason relayed later in the week. "He was kissing her, and she didn't do anything to stop it." Patricia Conners sadly made notes about the dream Jason so staunchly claimed was real. She was so sure he was getting better. When he had walked into her office and announced that he had been out and about all that week, she had wanted to jump for joy. But now, now he was hallucinating for goodness sake. She couldn't bear to see him kill himself anymore.

"Captain Hammer, are you sure? You said this, Dr. Horrible, was interested in your girlfriend too. Are you sure it wasn't some other red headed woman you saw on his balcony?" Dr. Conners asked, hoping he'd adopt that as an excuse. Captain Hammer visibly bristled under the challenge, and Dr. Conners knew she should have kept her mouth shut.

"So, because I saw my ex-girlfriend, I'm crazy?"

"Captain Hammer. Sit down." Patricia commanded, seeing that he was quickly becoming uncontrollable.

"No. I'm not going to listen to you talk down to me anymore. I know what I saw." He was shouting by now, not caring what may come of his temper.

"Captain Hammer, please." Patricia's finger hovered over the silent alarm.

"No. I'm going to the head of the Guild, and telling him myself." Jason threw open the doors, and Dr. Conners hit the silent alarm, there was no sense in letting him hurt anyone, before turning back to her notebook.

Captain Hammer had quickly become her favorite case. The man was a ticking emotional time bomb, their sessions rarely ended on a good note, and the littlest thing could set off a tantrum to rival the Hulk. But deep down, the mad really had issues to work out, unlike the other heros that came for her help with problems like time management, and room mate issues. I was nice to feel like she was doing her job for once.

_Captain Hammer- going outside, but seeing hallucinations. Very angry when confronted. _

She closed her notebook, and left the office for the day.

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We'll go back to Penny in Chapter Nine, but to get it, you guys have to make me feel loved enough to write it...

I am (obviously) not above bribery...

Review!


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys! Thank you so much for all your feedback! Especially since I know the topic of the last chapter wasn't your favorite. But after reading some of your reviews, I started wondering. How do you guys see this story ending? There's no right or wrong answer, I'm just curious...

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Lovelyblondebelle. livejournal. com- 30 days of Glee.

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_

Penny woke up groggy and sore, trying to straighten out what had happened earlier? Yesterday? What time was it?

She looked around the room, trying to remember where they had put the clock yesterday. It was still dark, she could see the faint, pathetic excuse for L.A. stars though a gap between the curtains and the window. The bed next to her was neatly made, and very obviously unused. The comforter was still tucked over the pillows, a bed making technique the Doc hadn't even known about until she showed it to him yesterday.

_ "You can do that? No way!" he exclaimed in surprise. Penny had never seen a man get so excited about a common chore before. Although, considering the state of his apartment, Penny doubted he even really knew what common chores were. _

_ "Yeah, it's really not complicated. Let me show you." Penny said, pulling the blanket back again. _

Yesterday's events, for it was currently three in the morning, played through her head again, and maybe it was because she was still groggy, but she couldn't seem to get up the same amount of fury this time.

_ "Penny, if you could have anything, what would you want?" The Doc asked, sitting by her bed in the early hours of the morning. They hadn't been able to sleep, her because of chest pains, and him because of thoughts._

_ "Besides freedom, or anything for the world. What would you want for you?" He amended, stopping her. She thought about it for a while, and was unable to come up with words for what she really wanted._

_ "Security?" It sounded like a question, even though she didn't mean it as one. "I want a home, that I know I can keep, with a husband that I know will stay by me, and a job I don't have to fight to stay at." She sighed, that was the best way she could word her feelings, but it didn't seem to be enough. _

_ "What about you?" Penny asked quietly. If the Doc tilted his head slightly, she could see the stars in his goggles. _

_ "I, I guess I'd want a life where Dr. Horrible never existed." Penny frowned, even though Dr. Horrible seemed unfazed by what he had just said._

_ "Don't say that." Penny chided, groggily, her missed sleep finally catching up to her._

_ "It's true Penny," Dr. Horrible sighed, then continued hesitantly. "The word would be better If I were-" But Penny couldn't keep her eyes open anymore._

If he were what? Penny wondered, curiosity striking her. They never brought up the conversation up again. Penny hadn't even remembered it until now. Could he have finished by saying "if he were gone"? That upset Penny more then she thought it would.

It amazed her, how quickly this man had gone from a terrifying monster, to her anchor to reality.

_ He was asleep. Penny was glad for the solidarity that came when the Doc was napping. Especially now that she had so much on her mind. She'd been the Doc's captive for about four weeks now, and feeling more confused by the day. It used to be easy. Penny scoffed. Easy to be a captive? But it had been. She knew she hated her captor, and he was indifferent towards her. _

_ But now... Penny looked down at the book on the coffee table. Pride & Prejudiced. The Doc bought it for her when she said she was bored. It wasn't his fault that he didn't know she didn't like Jane Austin. And, looking back, she probably shouldn't have chucked the book across the room. But to be fair, she was having a really bad tantrum that day, and he knew that. _

_ Oh, wait._

_ "Here Penny, I know you're having a bad day, and I thought this might cheer you up."_

Even weeks later, Penny was burning with embarrassment. He had just been trying to help. If it had been Jason, or Billy in the same position, would she have reacted as harshly? The answer was no, of course not. She would have thought it was almost a romantic gesture, even if she didn't like the book itself. Unexpectedly, Penny's mind was filled with the little things that had happened, that she'd taken advantage of, and forgotten until now.

_ "__I got a vegetarian pizza, because I know you don't eat meat.__"_

_ "I brought you another book, hopefully you'll like this one better, I tried to get something that sounded like you."_

_ "Here Penny, I think it'll fit. I just figured you'd want to get out of that dress pretty soon, it can't be comfortable- I mean, I wouldn't know or anything..."_

Why hadn't she seen this coming? The signs had been there all along, and she'd been reciprocating, not even thinking what it would mean, not even thinking that anything like this could happen. Out on the balcony, he had looked like a man sentenced to death. Penny couldn't imagine who had shown up, and what they had said, but it obviously wasn't good news. If he was stressed, and with all that tension, what had happened had been a normal reaction.

Penny wondered, if he hadn't shut the door, what would have happened. She'd admit that she had no problem kissing the Doc, until she started thinking about it, while it was happening. And seeing all that had happened, she realized that, maybe, she didn't have such a problem with it now either.

_Pull yourself together girl. _Penny chided angrily. _He's a villain. He's evil. And technically, you're still Captain Hammer's girlfriend. _A fat lot of good that last point did her though, she hadn't seen hide or hair of anyone that could have helped her when she wanted it.

Which, surprisingly, wasn't now.

* * *

So guys, I have two questions for you to answer:

1) Where do _you _think this is going?

and/or

2) Make me a superhero. Name, Powers, costume, etc... I'm building a Hero's guild.

The first six people to send in heros will get a sneak peek of the next chapter.

Get to it!

~B


	10. Chapter 10

Hey! Sorry this one took longer then normal...

I think I've forgotten to do this, but:

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, all Dr. Horrible related ideas and characters belong to the Whedons. This is just for fun.

* * *

The Doc stormed into his lab, angrily tearing off his goggles and throwing them into a corner, not caring where they landed, before throwing himself into the armchair, in the same way a two year old would throw himself onto a time-out chair.

"You ruin everything!" Billy whined childishly, picking up the picture on his end table. "We were so close! And now she hates me!"

"She was just getting in the way. You're spending way too much time with that girl, Billy, you're letting everything we've worked for go to hell." The Doc lectured, anger coloring his every word.

"You love her too! It was your fault in the first place!" Billy retorted. He hated it when he and the Doc clashed. It didn't happen often. In fact, this was only the third time he'd ever had to endure a battle. The first time he'd discovered the Doc, was when he'd found out his dad had cut off his mom. No child support, all she had were tabloids. However, he hadn't found out about all of this until much later.

_

* * *

"Billy?" Abigail called from her front porch in surprise. Her son hadn't shown his face around their home for almost four years. The young man, so different from when he had left for MIT, yet still the same scared little sixteen year old she'd shipped off to Massachusetts after he'd graduated early._

_ "Momma, what's going on?" Billy asked confusedly glancing at the boxes in the front lawn of his childhood home. He dropped his overnight bag on the grass, it wasn't out of place like it should have been, and he ran up the stairs. _

_ "We're being evicted, Billy, I'd hoped you'd be late, that all this would be taken care of before you got back." Abigail started crying. _

_ "Mom, mom. It's okay." Billy reassured her, leading her into the stripped house. _

_She told him about how his father had left her for another woman, how she always felt like a terrible mother, because they never had any money. All Billy could do was sit an try to comfort her about things beyond his control. But that night, as he slept in the cot that was laid out in his old room, he began to hear voices._

_ "You could help her." The angry, gravely voice enticed him. "The human race frowns on people like her, but you, you, Billy the Scientist, you could change all that." Billy protested, but the voice persisted. He didn't know what it was, some malevolent spirit that had lain dormant in the old house, waiting for an open and willing target, or if all the stress from the work at MIT, and now his mothers' hardship, had caused him to snap. _

* * *

"You love her just as much as I do." Billy yelled at the empty room, gripping the armrests until his knuckles turned white.

"Oh-ho, I do, Billy Buddy. And that's why she has to go. How many ideas have you come up with in the past two months? That's right, none. I've run out of work. Fury Lieka is on your tail now, for skipping out on the meetings of the _Evil League Of Evil_! We've worked so hard to get into this, Billy." The Doc sounded so scared, vulnerable, almost. "You're not going to blow this. I don't know what we're going to do with her. Obviously both killing her, and putting her back here are out of the question." Billy looked down at the picture he took of Penny in the park. He remembered crouching behind some bush, waiting for the opportune moment to take his snapshot. That was the day she'd lost her job, he remembered.

"What if we sent her to Herman Holdan? He'd take her in. She has the capability." He could feel the Doc's anger lessen.

"That's not half bad Billy, maybe you're not a waste after all. Of course, we'd have to make a few _changes._" Billy winced. He didn't want to mess with Penny at all. "It's a great plan. We dump her with Herman in podunk nowhere California, give her a reclusive personality, and change her name. Get on it." The Doc ordered, before disappearing. Billy dropped his head to his hands, glad to be rid of the Doc. But the cost. He didn't for one minute think that sending Penny to live with Herman in Bakersfield was a good idea. But what else could he do? Obviously keeping Penny wasn't an option now, as much as he wanted to.

Billy sighed, and picked up the picture again. He hadn't even gotten to see her as himself, and now she was going to be gone, and there wasn't anything he could do to stop it. Billy set the photo face down, before getting up and hunting for his goggles in the corner of his lab, trying to take his mind away from thinking about how he was about to lose the love of his life, again.

"At least I know she'll be alive this time." Billy murmured, plucking the goggles from the mess of shattered beakers. He hung the goggles on the windowsill, wanting to be as far from the Doc as he could be, before he walked out of the lab.

His apartment was so clean, so different from how he left it. Someone was taking better care of it then he had been. Penny was taking better care of it then he had been. There were no dishes in the sink, he noticed, and there was food in the pantry, and something more then a sour, half empty gallon of milk in the fridge.

It wasn't fair. Penny was Billy's friend. Billy had a crush on her. Not the Doc. The Doc didn't care. The Doc didn't even know Penny, until she'd appeared in the homeless shelter, and Billy had convinced him to save her. And the Doc was getting all her attention. Billy was sick of it. He had to tell her. He wasn't going to let her go without knowing it was him all along.

* * *

So, tell me what you think. No contest this time, I'm just gonna flat out ask you for a review. But no worries, there's a trivia question in the next one, so start brushing up on your cancelled primetime tv trivia!

~B


	11. Chapter 11

Okay, So this is your chapter, readers!

* * *

The Hurricane stood at the head of the lucite table, resting heavily on his palms while Calash took roll, wincing as the man's heavy chain mail hit the lucite table with his every movement.

"Damnit, you're scratching the table." Hurricane finally shouted, a slight breeze picking up in the enclosed boardroom.

"Hurricane's making waves." Captain cliché whispered to the person next to him. It would have been funny, had cliches not been the norm, and his neighbor would have laughed, had he not been a projector. But such was the life in the Heroes Guild.

"Speak up man, the microphone is _in front_ of the robot." Galactices two foot tall holographic avatar complained.

"Everybody shut up." Calash commanded angrily, tossing his clipboard to Hurricane, and collapsing into his wooden chair, glaring angrily at the lucite furniture in front of him.

"Captain Hammer's still gone." He grumbled, as Hurricane picked up the clipboard.

"Why don't we just expel him, and stick in Invisiboy over there." Grasshopper jerked his thumb over his shoulder.

"Invisiboy can't do anything! His power is totally useless! Captain Hammer is going to be back and ready to fight before you know it!" The Arbor Avenger shouted, jumping to his feet and knocking over his chair.

"If you don't all shut up, I'll admit a woman in to take Captain Hammer's place!" Hurricane threatened. The table fell silent, the members of the Guild exchanging horrified looks.

"That's better. Gentleman, we need to discuss the membership status of Captain Hammer. Now, before anyone says anything." Hurricane shot a pointed look at The Arbor Avenger before continuing. "I'd like to remind you all about our policy. Inactivity for more then three months without written notice a head of time calls for expulsion. Gentleman, the first question is, does this qualify as a special case?" Hurricane had hardly finished his sentence when the room exploded into arguments, everyone struggling to be heard over their partners. Hurricane just sat with his head in his hands. This was why they never made the newspapers as a team.

Nothing could ever get done, the guild was full of arrogance and incompetence. The only one who could ever get anything done had been Hammer, and even he hadn't been able to do one damn thing without talking about himself the entire time. Hurricane idly wondered if Bad Horse had as much trouble controlling the league. Of course he didn't, the Evil League of Evil board members knew how to handle themselves. It was probably the threat of discovery. Everyone knew, and loved The Guild, so if they had a few botched plans here and there, the public would forgive them. The League, however, didn't get that kind of mercy.

But Bad Horse can't even talk. Sometimes, Hurricane wished there was a way to meet up and trade commander secrets, because the Guild was just too out of control.

"Hurricane?" The leader looked up, "Captain Hammer's outside." Sure enough, the shadow of there former golden boy was lurking just outside the doors.

* * *

Jason stood in front of the doors to the Heros guild headquarters, going through the speech he had planned.

_ 'Grand gentlemen of the board.' _It began. Jason was actually really proud of his speech. It was

the first time he'd been proud of anything since he failed to save Penny. Failure. That had been totally new. Captain Hammer didn't fail anything, ever. The Guild even called him their golden boy, he was next in line to be leader. Or, he was, before the accident.

"Captain Hammer." The door creaked open, and the Grasshopper poked his head out. "What are you doing here?" Of course, the doors were glass. How had he forgotten?

"I need to ask the board for a favor." Captain Hammer asked, fighting off a stammer in the hopes of appearing cured. Also, he and Grasshopper had never gotten along. Grasshopper was an over glorified firefighter, with unnaturally strong legs. What kind of power was that? Hammer used to be able to punch through bank vaults, and he was working on flying. Those were the traits of a real hero.

"Funny, we were just talking about weather or not we should expel you. Come on in." Captain Hammer followed the bug into the boardroom

"Captain Hammer! So nice to see you out and about again!" Hurricane boomed from the head of the table, genuinely excited to see their missing member. Captain Hammer nodded and waved, hoping it looked like it used to, before taking his seat.

"So, what brings you here?" Calash asked, after Captain Hammer had taken his seat. "We weren't expecting you back so soon." The secretary wondered why their comrade looked so on edge. He had nothing to worry about here.

"I found Penny yesterday. She's being held captive by Dr. Horrible, and he's abusing her. You guys need to help me get her out. We could train her to be a sidekick, and she could call herself the Alive-Again avenger, because everyone thought she was dead, get it? And that way, we'd also have an in in getting rid of Dr. Horrible, and the rest of the Evil League of Evil, making the world a better place and saving human kind." Captain Hammer looked around the boardroom in shock, making eye contact with every member of the Guild.

"Well, Captain Hammer, we'd love to help, but, I believe Dr. Conners is already doing that. Or trying too, at the very least. Penny is dead, and there's nothing we can do about that, as unfortunate as it is." Hurricane explained, as if he were talking to a small child, and not one of the greatest heroes of the past. Captain Hammer glared at him, and stood up so quickly, his chair hit the wall.

"Fine. I'll do it myself." He growled, giving the room a glimpse of the man he used to be, before he stormed out, leaving the room silent for a moment, as the members sat there in shock.

"I vote Captain Hammer be put on permanent leave, and we let Invisiboy in in his place." The Grasshopper said, before anyone else could comment. The motion passed nearly unanimously. Captain Hammer was a time bomb, and no one wanted to be in the vicinity when he decided to blow.

* * *

Okay guys, Brush up your cancelled abc primetime trivia, and tell me where Captain Hammer's plan came from! (Hint, it's not connected to anything the Whedons have done.)

First one gets a sneak peek at Chapter 12!

~B


	12. Chapter 12

Hey guys!

Nobody liked that last chapter. I was a tad surprised at that actually... It is necessary, though, so bear with me. This is another chapter about the outside forces at work, but then we get back to Billy/Dr. Horrible, and Penny.

I also wanted to let you guys know not to freak out if the updates are a little later then normal. Honestly, this is the fastest I've written anything. And I'm a college student, so sometimes it's a little difficult to find time to write all this down...

Well, enjoy!

* * *

No one from the guild wanted to be near the time bomb that was Captain Hammer. But when he came storming out of the headquarters, the city's one rouge hero saw his chance to gain the guild membership he'd been craving.

Johnny Snow, arch nemesis to Dr. Horrible, and Heroes Guild hopeful applicant (47 times and counting) was hanging out on the porch, waiting for something to happen. With Captain Hammer out of commission, and Dr. Horrible holed up in secret somewhere, the city was getting boring. Johnny was just about to go home, and watch crime shows on t.v., when Captain Hammer barged out of the front doors. He had purpose, a goal, he looked like the old Hammer. Johnny knew he had something planned, and he wasn't about to be left behind like usual.

"Captain Hammer!" Captain Hammer winced at the annoyingly familiar voice.

"Johnny Snow! What are you doing here?" Captain Hammer asked, falsely cheerful. That question, thankfully, was enough to throw the wannabe hero into a tirade about something vaguely political, or heroic, Captain Hammer was grateful the monologue didn't leave any room for him to respond, because he didn't have any answers to give. He barely had the patience to let the twerp tag along, he was so angry about what had happened in the board meeting.

They blew him off! Those sniveling excuses for heros turned him down. He couldn't believe what he had been forced to experience in there. The people he had spent his life helping and protecting the city with wouldn't lift a finger to help him the only time he needed it. And not only did they turn him down, but they refused to save Penny! Even if his plan to integrate her into their world were a little shady, she was still in danger! He had to do something, that was clear, but what?

"--So it's been pretty quiet around here. Hey, what are you doing anyways?" Johnny asked, finally ending his rambling speech six blocks later. Hammer looked over at Snow, a plan formulating in his mind. If the league was not going to help him, he'd rescue Penny on his own. Or, more specifically, with Johnny Snow as a sidekick. Didn't they always say two heads were better than one?

"Actually." Captain Hammer began, trying to think quickly. "I was planning an ambush on Dr. Horrible." Johnny Snow's eyes lit up like a kid at Christmastime.

"Can I help?" Bingo! Just the response Captain Hammer was looking for. He nodded, and watched Johnny jump around a little bit on the sidewalk.

"Yes! Yes! A bust! Whoo!" The scene was a little embarrassing, and Captain Hammer wanted to run away from the kid who seemed to think a seizure was a proper victory dance. But Captain Hammer knew he would need all the help he could get, even if his help came in the package of an over-enthusiastic, under-experienced wishful hero.

* * *

Another week had passed, and the continuing absence of one Dr. Horrible was really starting to weigh on the minds of the members of the ELE. Never had a new member so flagrantly defied the League as to disappear the day after they received their acceptance.

After the rest of the league found out about Fury Lieka's attempt to contact the missing doctor, Bad Horse had put her in charge of getting him back. But Dr. Horrible had no ties to trace. If he wanted to, Fury Lieka was sure he could pull himself off the face of the earth. That was an unacceptable scenario, to say the least.

In a fit of desperation, Lieka begged Bad Horse for Dr. Horrible's application to be unlocked. It had become apparent that digging into his secret identity would be the only way to get a hold of him.

The applications were locked away in a secret file, the whereabouts known only by Bad Horse himself. In the event of a rebellion, Bad Horse did not want the current members, want to be members, and former members to have to worry about everyone knowing their identities, or where they lived. Even the darkest, most sinister villain of them all knew that there was such a thing as too much evil. So Fury Lieka received the application, with the threat that if any of the information was misused, she would pay.

It was with great trepidation that Lieka opened the file and glanced at the papers within. The information she needed was easy enough to find, a home address, phone number, and name. She jotted it all down, before quickly returning the application it's self to Bad Horse. Fury Lika was glad to be rid of it, not knowing how much pressure a threat from Bad Horse would put on a person.

The address on file was nearby, so Lieka figured it wouldn't take long to get a few people together to go to 'Billy's' apartment.

Which brought her back to the current board meeting.

"I have a plan for the retrieval of our missing member." Fury Lieka began, looking around the room to see if she had managed to get anyone's attention. She saw two or three pairs looking back at her, though who they belonged to would remain a mystery until they spoke.

"I believe the quickest way to get through this is simply to pay the doctor a visit." She continued, explaining that she would need a team of two or three people, (including herself) to go and check up on the doctor. This plan met with a rousing chorus of approval, or at least, that's what she told herself that the roar of shouting that broke out was.

However, she ended up with Fake Thomas Jefferson, (because they needed a certified officer, in his words.) And Dead Bowie, who no one was very happy with, but his powers more then made up for his annoying habit of speaking his own songs.

"Well," Lieka sighed, addressing her partners. "I guess we should head out, there's really no time to waste."

* * *

Okay guys, I hate to ask you this, but will you all do me a favor?

I've auditioned for the t.v. show 'Glee' and I was wondering if you'd vote for me? It would mean a lot to me to make it on this show, and since I've finished this story (there are three more chapters sitting on my desktop) It won't affect you in the slightest. You can vote as many times as you want, so If you find some free time, just sit and click the 'give star' button.

www. myspace. com/ gleeauditions?link=22107354 (no spaces)

There are so many people who read this story, that even if each person votes once, it would make a huge difference.

(Besides, you get to hear me sing, who doesn't want that opportunity?)

Thank you so much!

~B


	13. Chapter 13

Hey guys! I wanted to thank everyone that took the time to go vote for me! Even if you just went to watch the video, thank you! And, as a reward, Billy and Penny came back!!!

Enjoy!

* * *

Billy paced the living room nervously. He was tense, stressed out, nervous, edgy, ill at ease, any other synonym the thesaurus could come up with. Penny wasn't awake yet. At least, not to his knowledge. He hadn't exactly mustered up the courage to go in and talk to her yet.

But what would he say? It's not a topic to be approached lightly. "Hey Penny, remember that dream you had, the one that tormented you for weeks? Well, it's real." Even he knew that was a bad idea. He sat on the couch, unaware of the stirrings in the next room, pondering his situation. If he had any clue acting on his evil instincts would bring this much trouble, he never would have done it.

"Billy?" He froze, paralyzed, as Penny entered the room. "What are you-" Billy watched the gears turn in Penny's mind. She wasn't stupid. It would have made everything easier for her if she was.

But he could practically see Penny's thought process as her expression went from excited, hopefully at seeing him, to terrified.

"No, no. No. I'm dreaming, right? This is a dream." She backed up, never taking her eyes off Billy, even though at this moment he wished she would. He wished that he could wake up, and find that the hatred that was beginning to bloom in Penny's hazel eyes was just a terrible dream.

But it wasn't. Not this time, although surely this scene would pop up in his nightmares in the future. He didn't even know what to say, how to start the conversation that had an inordinate chance of ruining the relationship he had been working so hard to cultivate.

"This is sick." Billy couldn't agree more. They'd be hard pressed to find a more dysfunctional relationship.

"I knew you liked me at the start, but kidnapping? There are other ways to win a girl over, Billy, and kidnapping her and holding her hostage doesn't even make that list." Penny started pacing, trying to ease her frayed nerves and pin down her emotions.

"I have to give you credit, that medical set-up at the beginning was an amazing way to trick me into trusting you." Was she really doubting the seriousness of her condition?

"Penny I-" He began to protest, wanting a chance to explain what had happened.

"I could be having a normal life right now, if you hadn't come along and ruined it!" She insisted.

"If it weren't for me, you'd be dead Penny." He said, getting up, and walking towards her. She took a step backwards for every step he took forwards, until she hit the wall and had to stop. He towered over her. Penny remembered being surprised when she first noticed that, it was easy to forget his size, Billy was such a quiet man. Now, though, it was all she could think about. He could so easily pin her to the wall, but he didn't. He stayed a few steps away from her, standing just close enough to make her even more uneasy.

"No." Penny protested, trying to step around him. She found herself trapped between his arms, and she froze, too scared to try anything else.

"You died at the dedication of the homeless shelter." Billy started, trying to keep his voice calm. He could tell, by the look in her eyes that she didn't believe him.

"It was my fault. The Evil League of Evil told me- they gave me an ultimatum, and the only choice I had was to kill someone. It was going to be Captain Hammer, but I got cocky, and he ended up smashing my Death Ray." The event was coming back to Penny for the first time, only a fraction more solid then a long forgotten dream, but not the nightmare that had haunted her, something a little different.

"You were dead before you got to the hospital, luckily the Freeze Ray still worked, the doctor was able to operate and save you." It was harder then he expected to tell this story, especially since Penny showed no sign of relenting. He dropped his arms and stepped away, but Penny remained frozen to the wall, the victim of a raging internal battle that Billy was oblivious to.

"I didn't want to keep you here, but if the League found out that I didn't really complete my assignment, they wouldn't just kick me out. They'd kill me. They'd kill you too, because you know too much. Honestly, Penny, if there was a way to avoid all this mess, I would have taken that route in a heartbeat." He didn't want to tell her about his other plan yet, the plan to send her to Bakersfield, although sending her to bakersfield under a different identity seemed like the best thing to do at this point.

Penny hadn't moved. She didn't know what to think. Part of her still though he was a creep, and the other part thought maybe he really did have no other choice. That part wanted to go over and comfort him, he was obviously distraught, and she couldn't help feeling slightly responsible. But most of her was still repulsed, and more then a little scared. It felt like she sat there in silence for hours, staring at the man she didn't know anymore.

"Why didn't you just tell me then?" She asked. Her own voice hurt her ears, as it broke the stale silence that hung over the room.

"You would have hated me, like you do now. I didn't want this to happen." Billy replied tonelessly from where he sat on the couch.

"I don't hate you." Penny said, without thinking. But as soon as the sentiment was out there, she realized it was true. She didn't feel any hatred for the man she still thought of as her captor, even without the mask and costume. She was disappointed. She was disappointed that all the illusions she had built up around Dr. Horrible were crashing down. But disappointed wasn't a strong enough word for what she felt when she realized that the man she was growing to love was merely a myth. The fact that she still had a schoolgirl crush on Billy that flared to a nearly uncomfortable blaze the second she saw him was consoling, but at the same time, she felt psychotic. How messed up was she for loving two different men that inhabited the same body.

She finally gathered the courage to walk over to the couch, and put a hand on Billy's shoulder, not sure what she was going to do next, but wanting to make the gesture all the same. Billy turned to face her, with an unreadable expression on his face. He reached up, and brushed Penny' unkempt hair away from her face. They were both surprised when Penny didn't flinch away, but instead, she reached up and brushed Billy's cheek, both sure of what they wanted, but as unsure as middle schoolers as how to go about getting it.

Suddenly, there was the sharp, yet contradictorily squishy sound of wood giving, and the front door swung inward as Moist burst into the apartment, looking as if the hounds of hell were at his heels. He forced the door back into it's frame awkwardly, giving Billy and Penny enough time to, grudgingly separate, before facing both of them. Surprised recognition appeared in Moist's eyes, and was reflected in Penny's, before Moist's gaze fell on Billy.

"Doc." He said, panting. "You're in trouble."

* * *

Okay, tell me what you think, what you hate, what made you laugh? Anything really, just click that little button, and review!

~B


	14. Chapter 14

Hey guys! It's the last chapter. I want to thank you all for your reviews, your messages, and just for reading the story. You made it what it is.

Don't worry, I'll be back soon. I can't stay away from this fandom for long! I'll be back with another story, or a beta-project, or co-writing a story (p.s. If anyone is interested, hit me up!)

Enjoy this last chapter!

Belle

* * *

_"Doc." Moist said, panting. "You're in trouble."_

Billy stood, pulling Penny up with him and ushering her towards the hall.

"No." She said, planting her feet, not moving another inch. "I'm as much of a part of this as anyone now." Billy debated forcing her out of the room, but something told him they didn't have that much time.

"What. What's going on?" He asked, turning his attention to the problem at hand.

"The ELE, Captain Hammer and Johnny Snow are parked outside. They're planning- they're planning something." Moist said, a little embarrassed that he didn't have more information.

"Are they coming up here?" Billy asked, superfluously. Of course they were. Why else would they be here. That they weren't banging down his apartment door already actually surprised Billy.

"We need to get Penny out of here." He said, walking into the lab, and coming out seconds later in his lab coat and goggles. "She's in the most danger." He was deceptively calm, talking as if he were trying to hide an unwanted girlfriend from disapproving parents, instead of from a group of villains that wanted them all dead.

"But Doc, where can she go?" Moist asked as Penny began protesting the idea of leaving him to his death.

"I'm not going to leave you here, it's my fault anyways, Why don't I just go down and talk to Captain Hammer? I could probably get him to leave." Penny suggested, but her pleas fell on deaf ears.

"Moist, can you take Penny up to Holden's place?" Billy asked, tossing a small black box to the waiting henchman, who, in a moment of extreme luck, was able to catch it without dropping it on the floor.

"Yeah Doc, but the ELE will still be looking for Penny."

"She'll have to change her name, or something. I don't know. Just get her up there, and use that to contact me when you're safe. You have your car, right?" Billy asked, stress and nervous energy crackling from him like electricity.

"Billy!" Penny snapped, tired of being ignored. "I'm not going to let you send me away like this, and leave you to die." She said, the strained atmosphere wearing on her already. She looked terrified, but, not for herself. She was scared for him. All Billy could think to do was lie to her, if she thought he had a chance, maybe she'd leave. And she needed to leave now.

"Penny, remember what I said?" He tried to keep a calm, level tone, to reassure her. "If they still think you're dead, I'll be fine. Who ever the ELE sent will help me take care of Hammer and Snow. I'm only in danger if you're in danger, and you're only in danger if you're here." He pulled her into a hug. The rough material of the lab coat scratched Penny's cheek, but she didn't want to let go. Billy kissed her forehead, before pushing her away, and Penny realized that she was crying.

"Moist, get her out of here while you guys still have time." Billy ordered, and the henchman pulled the door off it's hinges again, before guiding Penny out, and giving one last wave to the Doc.

"It'll be fine, Penny." Moist tried to comfort her, and get her to calm down. They couldn't afford any extra noise now, and her sniffles would echo in the stairway.

Moist pulled the door to the stairwell open, and placed a hand on the light switch, focusing all his strength of secreting enough water to short out the lights. He silently cheered when it worked, and they very carefully made their way to the underground parking lot where Moist had left his car.

"You ever been on a road trip Penny?" Moist asked, trying to lighten the mood as they pulled out into the sunlight, but he got no response.

* * *

Billy scrambled around the apartment, erasing every trace that Penny was ever there. He even fired the death ray at her bed, and the monitors that had sat in the corner gathering dust for the past week. He was painfully on edge, expecting the league to walk in any second. They couldn't find any evidence, but they couldn't find him destroying evidence, and he didn't know what scenario was worse.

"Horrible?" Fury Lieka's voice, with it's clipped accent rang out through the apartment, and probably the rest of the building. It was followed by the sounds of a struggle, and Dr. Horrible ran into the main room to find five people of varying degrees of evil tangled on his floor. He reached for the death ray, taking it from where he had placed it on the counter.

"What are you doing here." He growled, trying to be menacing. No one on the floor bought it for a second.

"We just came to check up on -" Fury Lieka stopped talking after Captain Hammer launched himself at Dr. Horrible's head.

"Where is she you bastard." Hammer screamed, pinning the doc to the floor, with the death ray just out of reach.

"Who?" Dr. Horrible, along with the rest of the members in the ELE asked, most of them confused.

"Penny?" The Doc choked out. "Penny's dead. I killed her a long time ago, remember?" Dr. Horrible spat, his vision beginning to grow fuzzy. Someone knocked the bigger man off of him, and the Doc grabbed the death ray, and blindly fired into the room.

It lit up after that. No self respecting villain went anywhere without a gun, or a ray, and the heros must have planned on something like this happening.

Though it seemed like it took forever, the firing actually quieted after a few minutes. The walls had holes, the carpet was scorched, and the door ceased to exist, but the lone survivor seemed to ignore all that, as he quietly tucked his weapon away.

He was going to find Penny.

* * *

You know what to do! Tell me who you think survived, if you wan tan epilogue, or just what you think of it. Review for the last time!

~Belle


	15. Chapter 15: Epilogue

Okay, so obviously the cries for an epilogue were immensely overwhelming. I was, however surprised with what some of you came up with for who survived the shoot out.

I honestly had a very hard time writing this, because, honestly, I wasn't sure who survived. I think most of you will be happy with the outcome though...

On another note, I am tempted to turn this epilogue into it's own story, but I'm not quite sure how to yet. Tell me if you even think it's a good idea...

Oh, a lot of this chapter belongs to Felicia Day herself, thanks to her amazing web show, The Guild. It should be understandable, but if you're curious, you can watch the show at www. watchtheguild .com

* * *

Penny put a red X through another day on her calender. That made three years, one thousand and ninety-five days exactly, since she was put into this sick farce of a witness protection program.

Moist had spent the entire seven hour car ride on the phone, explaining her situation to someone named Herman, only speaking to her when he needed personal information, social security number and the like. She didn't even get a chance to ask what was going on, before she found herself dropped off in front of an apartment building, instructed to go to the front desk, and tell them she was the new tenant. The building was nicer then both her apartment building, and Billy's, but she barely noticed, instead she was focused on the fact that the last person she knew was currently driving away from her without a second look

She discovered an envelope on the coffee table of her new living space, full of personal documents that looked almost exactly like the ones she left behind. Bank statements, birth certificates, all the information about her was correct, except for the name.

She also received a letter, telling her that her adoption of this new identity was absolutely vital to her survival, and that she should limit her face to face interactions as much as possible

That was how Penny Elisabet Cooper began her life as Cyd Sherman.

Now, three years later, she had almost forgotten the life she had left back in L.A. Actually, she worked hard not to remember it, and before she looked at the calendar, she instinctively knew today was big. But she had enough problems in Bakersfield anyways. She joined an online game playing group, or Guild as they were called, and now, she had a maybe-sort-of relationship with the leader of the enemy guild. She didn't know his real name. He didn't know hers either, although he was persistently trying to find out.

"What, do you have some sort of superhero complex?" Fawks asked, luckily they were gaming, so it was only over the headset chat, and he couldn't see her turning bright red. She couldn't help it, the mention of superheroes brought back memories of Captain Hammer, memories she tried to avoid at all cost.

"Codex?" He asked impatiently, "Superhero fetish or something? Usually the chicks want to be the damsel in distress, but I'm not surprised you want to be dominating." He trailed off, bringing Cyd back to the present. He had a way of doing that. Making blatantly sexual comments just to get her reaction.

"What?" She half shrieked, in her typical, reserved fashion. It wasn't her fault, she'd literally been cooped up in her apartment for nearly two and a half years. She hadn't even had a face to face conversation until one of her guild mates showed up on her doorstep due to a very, very, very big misunderstanding. Thinking of that day still made Cyd want to crawl under her pillow and hide.

"Just tell me your name." He countered, pressing her again. Cyd was in the middle of both battling an orc, and trying to think up a witty retort that would keep her name at bay, when a private chat request popped up on her screen. She screamed out in frustration. Why in hell would 'Lance' need to talk to her privately? She didn't even know a 'Lance', except for the guy from the nineties boy band.

"Hold on." She snapped grumpily, clicking into the private channel.

"Hello?" She asked, annoyed. The screen was totally blank, which kind of pissed her off. Her own avatar wasn't even there to inspire her to be, well, not brave per say, but braver then the quivering mess she was now. Cyd hated meeting new people, because, honestly she'd never met someone out of the blue that was just normal.

"Is this Penny Cooper?" The voice on the other end, the one named 'Lance' was so familiar. Cyd shivered, for a moment. What if it was a trap? Would it really take three years to get out of trouble with those kinds of forces? Cyd had an interior battle, should she answer or not?

"Penny Cooper? Is this you?" Cyd couldn't help herself from finally answering. She didn't want to, life was just starting to become a normal roller coster, but he sounded so desperate.

"Billy?"

* * *

Better? This is really the end, so no complaining. I'm leaving it open ended for your own amusement.

So tell me what you think, and if you'd read a story based off this chapter.

Bye!

~B


	16. Chapter 16: Threads of a Different Color

Hey Freeze Ray Fans! I'm a little (okay, alot) behind the times on this, but I wanted to inform you about a part two that has been posted. I think it's under the Dr. Horrible/Web Shows crossover category, which is why some of you may not know about it.

Anyways, Go check out '_Threads of a Different Color_' through my profile, or find it in the crossover category. I hope you like it!

~Belle!


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